While radio stations flood the airwaves with singles by Korn and Limp Bizkit and MTV elder statesman Kurt Loder reminds us once more that rock and roll is not, in fact, dead, the members of Coal Chamber probably are sitting at home smiling and painting its nails - black.
Releasing their second major album, "Chamber Music," at a time when hard rock is competing and combining with the almighty hip-hop surely will bode well for the record's sales and popularity - but do not be fooled.
Coal Chamber, like label-mates Fear Factory, Soulfly and Sepultura, is no radio-friendly, buy-it-for-Timmy-for-his-birthday rock music. This is pure Goth-metal hardcore. Lead singer B. Dez Fafara has his bandmates drop the guitar tuning and raise the volume.
The disc opens with "Mist," a pleasant, 45-second string arrangement that makes the album title more than just a thoughtless play on the band's name. Upon hearing this airy, classical ditty one would think the band might be plotting to layer its metal over the strings, delving into a new realm of crossover and creativity. Think again. Coal Chamber doesn't do pleasant.
Instead, the intro ends and up steps "Tragedy," where Fafara dives right into downtrodden vocals like "Cynics and Christ-like hypocrites / How they stick to you like glue." Let the crowd-surfing begin.
"El Cu Cuy" follows, led by a rhythmically-strong guitar progression laced with a higher-pitched lead riff. "Kill the man, become the monster," Fafara advises in the sort of grinding, 1979 diesel-engine fashion that could haunt us for days.
The thrashing is put on hold for the first time at the beginning of "Untrue," when a flanged-out intro riff sets us up for more body shots and spiked leather. This use of tension is essential to the success of many hardcore songs and provides "Chamber Music" with its first emotionally-gripping track. When Fafara finally displays his true singing colors two minutes into the song, the strengths of the album emerge.
The most shocking moment of the album comes at the very end of "What's in Your Mind?" when a lofty, trance-like outro, more suited for deep House music than hardcore, emerges from the rubble of the amplification. Again, the possibility of genre-bending manifests itself and again Coal Chamber squanders the opportunity, opting instead to transition into "Not Living." The best song on the disc, it utilizes climax beautifully and the verse and chorus counter each other with relentless peaks and valleys.
What follows is a guest appearance by Ozzy Osbourne, with whom Coal Chamber has long had strong ties. The result is an interesting amalgam that sounds like Phil Collins doing a duet with Marilyn Manson.
The rest of the album is familiar. The exception to this is "My Mercy," featuring guest vocals by Aimee Echo and E. Blue. The uplifting harmonies are refreshing and supply a respite from the "mosh, mosh, repeat" recipe of most of the album.
Perhaps the success of Bizkit's "Significant Other" and Korn's "Follow the Leader" can be attributed to the band's branching out into other musical styles and maxing out their personal abilities. With their sprinkles of ambience and Fafara's occasionally superb vocal performance, Coal Chamber hints at wanting to do the same. But the band never brings it all together into a cohesive unit - seemingly scoffing at the idea of commercializing or softening their music. Rock on we must.
Read More
The best albums of 2014
By Noah Zeidman | December 4, 2014Across genres, it has been a pretty great year in music.
Top 10 movies of 2014
December 4, 2014This has been an excellent year for film, offering everything from gripping blockbusters to innovative personal films.
Iggy Azalea is “Reclassified”
December 4, 2014It has become common practice among music artists to repackage their albums in an effort to simultaneously boost single sales and dish out new content by slightly renaming the album or slapping “Deluxe” onto the title.
